Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain how Swedish gazelle firms, as representatives of high growth SMEs, respond to challenges in their economic and social contexts in sustaining growth. Furthermore, the purpose is to provide relevant and valuable recommendations to managers of rapidly growing companies. Finally, this thesis aims at providing suggestions for further research. Method - This research was conducted following a multiple case study research design, constituting four companies. Data derives particularly from semi-structured interviews, held with the owners/CEOs of the four case companies. Findings – Taking a combined resource-based and institution-based view, the study shows that even though the importance of commitment to social issues for SMEs increases through periods of rapid growth, the importance is still somewhat limited for the overall success of the firm. Hence, mainly focusing on the economic context is essential for the firm‘s success, albeit the social context becomes an increasingly important factor to bear in mind for runners of SMEs, particularly when it comes to future expansion. Practical implications - For owners and managers of rapidly growing SMEs, it is vital to form a profound understanding of the challenges that can emerge after a period of rapid growth as well as how to how to most adequately respond to those challenges. For this, it greatly helps if a long-term vision on how and how much to grow is developed before the firm enters its period of rapid growth. Moreover, firm owners need to have or develop significant leadership capabilities in order to deal with the increasing amount of and diversity regarding employees. Keywords - Rapid growth firms, Gazelles, Strategic management, CSR, Growth, SMEs

This thesis investigates the dialectical nature of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) phenomenon a common buzzword in today’s globalized economy. The emergence of CSR as a significant issue in recent years can be attributed to the expectation in developed countries for business to engage with society beyond their commercial interests. Business are now under sustained pressure to be held publicly accountable for their activities. The research shed light on two research gaps identified within business ethics- idea of business responsibility firstly in the context of the big economic players of tomorrow- emerging markets; and secondly in relation to small and medium enterprises. Adopting a phenomenological approach based on Critical Theory and Hermeneutics framework, the research attempted to uncover the link between business and ethics in relation to SMEs. This led to the construction of a theoretical model –A.R.T Model, aimed at enhancing understanding of how SMEs perceive and practice socially responsible behaviour. Contribution to knowledge was also made in applying Bourdieu’s Theory of Logic of Practice to explain actions of SME owner-managers; and carrying out a comparative analysis of Social Capital theory versus normative Stakeholder Theory to describe workings of SMEs towards their stakeholders. These contributions met the objectives of the study: creation of a ‘native’ model of social responsibility for SMEs in Pakistan (reflective of the local social reality) using a business ethics and cultural construction; and exploring the nature and evolution of CSR in emerging markets. The research also revealed that socially responsible practices by SMEs are inherently informal and voluntary in nature, driven more so by ethical than religious motivations. Furthermore, philosophical synergies were created between the A.R.T model and the normative construct consisting of Classical antiquities - Kant, Adam Smith and Machiavelli, which bridged the gap between theory and CSR driven practice.

The importance of addressing the topic of sustainable development has been widely acknowledged, and the researchers call for future studies that would develop new perspectives on integrating sustainability in the business context. Currently, most of such studies focus on large companies, whereas it has been shown that the impact of SMEs on the economy, the society and the environment is also significant. The present work aims at exploring the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Nordic countries. Adopting a qualitative dominant mixed research method, the following objectives are achieved: using content analysis, we analyse the activities disclosed by SMEs and describe their type and focus. Further, the multiple case study of 13 SMEs operating in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland allows exploration of the process of CSR integration in companies in more detail. Using the abductive approach to analysis and systematically combining the existing approaches to analysing CSR integration with the empirical findings, we are able to distinguish several specifics of SMEs. Namely, the process of CSR integration in SMEs may be different due to increased role of the top management commitment and the varying degree of externally formalising CSR and CS through obtaining certifications. This allows us to design suggestions for the updated model of CSR integration, which would reflect these specifics of SMEs. The present work contributes to current research by exploring CSR and CS integration in the context of SMEs, which have been previously identified as research gaps. We develop suggestions for modifying an existing framework for analysing CSR integration that combines the focus on specific business operations and the stages that a company can undergo in implementing CSR. The developed model could be used as a practical tool for analysing the company and the potential areas that would lead to CSR integration on a more strategic level. The qualitative nature of the present work and supporting the theoretical reflections with quotes from SME managers and owners provides opportunities for naturalistic generalisations and gaining insights on what activities could be implemented in companies. We acknowledge that our work has several limitations. The qualitative nature of the study does not allow statistical generalisation; thus, further research is recommended to enhance the findings and test the developed model in different context and using different methods, as well as targeting not only managers and owners whose responsibilities are related to strategy and sustainability, but also employees from other functions. Quantitative and qualitative studies of SMEs in the analysed region conducted by native speakers are also recommended.

SMEs make up a large part of the global economy. Only in Sweden, for example, SMEs account for 61,3% of value added and employment (European Commision, 2016, p. 2). With such impressive presence, these firms exert a large impact on society and the environment. In an increasingly demanding and competitive landscape, organizations do not only have an economic responsibility to shareholders’ wealth, but also bear responsibilities towards society and the environment. With this shift, corporate social responsibility has become of significant importance and reshaped the way firms act and should act. Parallel to that, the evolving CSR paradigm has highlighted the need of stakeholder engagement in strategic decisions, as the growing importance of stakeholders is said to be the single most important element in the age of sustainability. Stakeholders affect and are affected by organizations and corporate decisions should thus take into consideration their needs and expectations. Opposing the “business of business is doing business” line of thought that dominated the business logic in the past decades, firms are now recognizing the significant importance of establishing and maintaining good relationships with stakeholders. With that, stakeholder engagement is argued to be one of the key aspects for an improved decision-making since it allows firms to integrate knowledge, generate mutual collaboration and mitigate risks, which in turn can lead to CSR strategies that are more aligned with stakeholders’ expectations and wishes and support responsible growth. Although CSR and stakeholder theory are two vastly studied academic fields, few studies have explored the reality of CSR among SMEs and stakeholder engagement on an individual group of stakeholders such as employees. While vital for any company’s survival, employees exert an even more unique role in SMEs. Given the identified research gaps, the purpose of this study is to shed light on both CSR and stakeholder engagement focused on employees among SMEs. In order to gain a better understanding of the realities of both topics, we formulated the research question: How do Swedish SMEs engage employees in the CSR strategy-making from a management perspective? With an inductive approach, a qualitative exploratory research study was chosen. From a mix of purposive and snowball sampling, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted among SMEs’ managers and CEO’s from firms in Umeå, Sweden. Our findings indicate that SMEs often have the willingness to engage employees in CSR decisions, but sometimes lack the knowledge and/or resources to promote this engagement. The most widely adopted means to foster employee engagement with CSR strategy-making is through informal discussions and talks during coffee breaks. Some companies also use more developed methods, such as town hall meetings, instant feedback mechanisms, anonymous notes and weekly employee surveys for this purpose. Our study contributes to the growing literature on CSR among smaller firms and broadens the understanding of stakeholder engagement focused on one particular stakeholder group. This research also presents managerial implications into how SMEs’ can promote a more inclusive governance around strategy. We also expect to have contributed by promoting a further debate and reflection around CSR.

由於台灣食安風暴發生，政府為挽救國人信心，而制定相關法規，針對特定大型企業編訂企業社會責任報告書，可見得政府對企業社會責任日益重視。台灣中小企業占全體企業家數的97.69%，在經濟、社會、環境等面向對台灣影響甚大，但是台灣中小企業社會責任卻很少研究討論。 本研究以中小企業社會責任之相關議題，採用訪談方式，企圖討論以下三點，首先，探討企業社會責任的概念，與中小企業對企業社會責任之認知、動機與實踐。其次，將四家標竿中小企業、兩家一般中小企業與一家微型企業，將其對企業社會責任的作為予以比較。最後，探討當前中小企業實踐企業社會責任可能面臨的困難與解決方式，政府或外部單位在中小企業經營與承擔企業社會責任時所能提供的幫助與需要承擔之角色為何，並對政府提供建議。 研究發現，許多中小企業對企業社會責任認知不足的情形下，實踐企業社會責任。從中小企業對Carroll的金字塔理論之責任排序，可以發現中小企業之認知與實踐，有其多元考量因素，包括：企業產業別、經營方向、領導者與管理者之價值觀與行事作風、企業生存問題與穩定與外在環境變化。從企業社會責任之實踐來看，在微型企業方面，其影響因素通常是企業主或領導階層價值觀與內心因素，更專注於營運與利害關係人之回應，而未得獎企業與得獎企業通常有其長期實踐方案、第三方認證，而得獎企業可能會更進一步發行企業社會責任報告書、有企業社會責任相關的部門與人才培訓，多以量化方式呈現企業社會責任。許多中小企業表示，實踐企業社會責任會有其實質利益。最後，除了中小企業內部限制產生中小企業之社會責任窒礙難行情形外，社會風氣、政府法規與政策也會改變中小企業對企業社會責任相關之實踐，中小企業內部限制、社會風氣、政府法規與政策皆可能造成中小企業對於企業社會責任認知與實踐造成差距擴大。 / Abstact According to a series of food safety scandals occur frequently in Taiwan, Financial Supervisory Commission makes relevant laws and regulations to restore confidence of people and Social perception. The specific part of large enterprise have to prepare corporate social responsibility（CSR） report. It will be seen from this that the government have gradually paid their attention to CSR. The Small and medium-sized enterprises（SMEs）, who play an important role in our economy , society and environment , accounted for 97.69% of all enterprises in Taiwan. However, comparatively little research has focused on CSR for SMEs in Taiwan. The subject of the research is cognition and implementation of CSR for SMEs in Taiwan. The qualitative data were derived from semi-structural interviews with seven SMEs in Taiwan. There are three purposes of this research. First, cognition and motivation of CSR for SMEs in Taiwan. Second, subjects in the study were divided into three groups, including four companies who won CSR for SMEs in Taiwan award from 2011 to 2014, three SMEs who did not won CSR for SMEs in Taiwan award, and one micro-business, to compare the differences between their implementation of CSR. Finally, the difficulties of implementation of CSR for SMEs. What is the role of government in helping and supporting CSR for SMEs? SMEs will give advice to the government. The study found that many SMEs are lacking of CSR cognition, but they still implement CSR. On SMEs opinion, they rank differently“the Pyramid of Carroll's Corporate Social Responsibility” in order of importance, so we can find that the cognition and implementation of CSR for SMEs in Taiwan have their various considerations, including category of business, the direction and guidance of their business, the values of leaders and managers and manage style, issues of business survival, internal and external environments of business. In terms of the implementation of CSR for SMEs, the implementation of CSR for micro-business is highly influenced by the values and mental factors of business owners or managers, and they are focus on responding to stakeholders and operation. Besides micro-business, other study subjects have long-term program of CSR and certification of CSR, study subjects who won CSR for SMEs in Taiwan award from 2011 to 2014 have CSR report, CSR-related departments and personnel training and quantified data on CSR. Many SMEs said they can benefit companies by engaging in CSR. Finally, resource constraints of SMEs is one of reasons that hard to implement CSR. Social morality and the government regulations and policies also change the way when SMEs implement CSR. Resource constraints of SMEs, Social morality and the government regulations and policies have an impact on disparity between cognition and implementation of CSR for SMEs in Taiwan .